Girl At Hopewell
by KairiGokuJr
Summary: Suite Scarlett/Girl At Sea crossover Clio Ford, a young artist who enjoys Buffy the Vampire Slayer, arrives at the Hopewell Hotel where she meets Spencer Martin, an actor with a flare for falling down. Shenanigans and a bit of romance ensues.
1. Scene 1

_[A Twitter inspired romance inspired by the "real life" Clio Ford and Spencer Martin.]_

SCENE ONE: Arrival

"It's New York! It's going to be amazing!" At least, that's what Elsa had said when Clio informed her of her trip to New York.

Clio had believed Elsa for a while. In the cab on the way to her hotel she the Empire State Building, passed Central Park. Everything about New York was big and new.

But now Clio was standing in front of her hotel, the Hopewell, and she was beginning to second guess herself. It certainly was the Ritz or the Holiday Inn. It was something different.

Clio was beginning to get the same feeling in her stomach that she had gotten when she first saw what she _thought_ was her father's yacht, except this time she knew she was going to walk behind the Hopewell and see her actual hotel.

"I will try to make the best of this," Clio assured herself as she clutched her suitcase. "At least there is no possibility of me getting attacked by jellyfish."

Clio needed to be looking on the bright side of things. Her mother's work had run long this summer and instead of sending Clio back to her father, her mother had instead sent her to New York to have a little vacation of her own to have some free time to herself.

At first, Clio wasn't thrilled, just as she hadn't been thrilled about going to Italy because she'd have to leave Ollie. Now, all she'd wanted was to see Aidan.

At least that's what she'd wanted for a while, but since Clio's departure her attitude toward Aidan was slowly declining. He hadn't called her, texted, or even e-mailed her since she'd left Italy.

Clio walked into the Hopewell and was surprised to see that inside was a lot different that the outside. It had a very Art Deco feel to it on the inside. Perhaps this was going to be a better experience than she had expected. Her excursion with her father had been after all.

Standing at the front desk was a young girl with tight, curly, blonde hair. She was flicking through her cell phone with a serious look of concentration on her face. After a moment she flipped the phone shut and placed it roughly onto the desk.

The girl looked up and saw Clio standing and immediately flushed.

"Welcome to the Hopewell Hotel!" she said quickly.

Clio rolled her luggage up to the front desk.

"How can I help you?" the girl asked.

"I'm Clio Ford. My mom said she made a reservation for me here," Clio told her.

"Right. We were expecting you," the girl said turning behind her and pulling a set of keys from the wall. "You'll be in the Sterling Suite."

"Sounds lovely," Clio said.

"Sure," the girl replied. "I'm Scarlett, by the way. I'll show you to your room."

Clio followed Scarlett to the elevator and they stood there waiting for a few moments in an awkward silence.

"So, you work here for a summer job or something?" Clio asked, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, no. My family owns the hotel and I live here too," Scarlett replied.

"Oh, what's that like, living in a hotel I mean," Clio inquired.

Scarlett chuckled. "Nothing like what you think it is."

The elevator arrived and they stepped inside of the rickety old thing and took it all the way up to the third floor.

"This is your room," Scarlett said after they'd walked down the hall a bit. Scarlett opened the door and peaked inside and then pushed it all the way open.

It was a nice room. It had a bit of blue theme going on it – blue bedding, blue curtains, blue walls. Clio was beginning to feel like she was back on the ocean again, except, if she were back in Italy on the Mediterranean, Aidan would be here and he most certainly wasn't here.

The room was a bit hot and stuffy. It had no air conditioning and no television. It was going to be a very long few weeks.

"Sorry, I have to leave you, but I need to go watch the front desk. If you need anything that's where I'll be," Scarlett said.

"No, problem," Clio assured her.

And with that Scarlett had left her alone in the Metro Suite.

Elsa would be joining her in a few days for a week or so, until then she would have to survive on her own.

She fished her phone out of her pocket.

_No Missed Calls._

That meant Aidan had not called her.

Clio wasn't going to let it bother her though. So what she had wasted her perfectly good first kiss on some guy who hadn't even bothered to call her back? He was just some stupid college boy. Some ridiculous summer fling that had lasted all of five minutes. Clio was young. She was 17. She was not going to waste her time pining over some guy who wasn't even giving her the time of day.

After she unpacked, Clio rode the elevator back down to the lobby to ask the Scarlett girl what there was to do around the city.

When she reached the front desk however, Scarlett was nowhere to be found. Clio looked around for a moment and heard noise coming from inside of what she suspected was the dining.

She walked over to the doors, peaked inside and was completely blown away by what she saw.

It was a dining room, yes, but at the moment, it seemed to be the set of some huge play.

There were people, presumably actors, on the stage. They weren't acting, or even rehearsing at the moment. Just standing around socializing with one another.

Still, Clio seemed to be hypnotized by the scene. Her eyes darted around the room until she found Scarlett and she quickly made her way over to her.

Scarlett, just like before, was consumed by her cell phone and seemed to be strategically taking a picture of some boy on the stage.

"Scarlett," Clio said.

Startled, Scarlett snapped her phone shut and turned around.

"Clio! What can I do for you?" Scarlett asked.

"What is all this?" Clio asked.

"Oh, my brother, Spencer is an actor. His theater company is putting on _Hamlet_ here. He's playing Guildenstern," Scarlett said.

"Which one is your brother?" Clio inquired.

"The one on the unicycle," Scarlett pointed out.

Indeed, there was guy on stage, balancing himself on a unicycle.

"Interesting, though I don't recall Guildenstern riding a motorcycle in the play," Clio said.

"I know, but it's better this way," Scarlett assured her. "Hey, Spencer!"

Spencer looked off stage and over to his sister who motioned him over. He climbed off his unicycle and hopped offstage.

"Yes, dear sister?" Spencer asked.

"Spence, this is Clio Ford. She's staying in the Sterling Suite," Scarlett said.

"Oh, are you?" Spencer asked brightly. "I'm Spencer and I'm in charge of all business that goes on in and around the Sterling Suite, so I'm in charge of helping make your stay here as amazing as possible."

"You can start by telling me when your next performance is and how much the tickets are," Clio said.

"Our next performance is tonight at eight, and for you, Miss Ford, your ticket is free," Spencer said. "Just one of the perks of staying in the room belonging to Guildrenstern."

Clio smiled at Spencer. "Can't wait to see what other perks I get."


	2. Scene 2

When the play ended, Clio retreated to her room to let her brain absorb what could only be called the most astonishing theatrical display she had ever seen.

Just as she finished changing into her pajamas and opening a window in the stuffy, blue room, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said.

"Hello, Miss Ford," Spencer said opening the door. "How did you like the play?"

"I enjoyed it actually. I especially liked your fight sequence," Clio replied.

"I'm actually quite proud of that part. Thanks for that," Spencer said.

"I was just being honest," Clio answered. "So, what brings you?"

"Oh, well," Spencer said reaching out into the hallway and grabbing a cart, "I thought you might want this TV and air conditioner. If you don't, I can just take it somewhere else."

Clio laughed, part from being amused and part from being relieved that she wouldn't have to suffocate tonight. "Thank you."

"You know," Spencer started as he wheeled in a cart with the TV and air conditioner, "you look familiar."

_Oh jeez,_ Clio thought. _Maybe he won't figure it out._

"Have we met before?" Spencer asked.

"No, pretty sure we haven't. I'd definitely remember you," Clio replied. "I'm from Philadelphia. I've never been to New York before. This is my first time."

Spencer began to think quietly to himself as he set up Clio's TV.

"Were you ever on TV?" Spencer asked.

"Not really," she replied.

"Not really?" he asked. Clio nodded.

"Not really," she maintained, unsure herself of what "not really" meant.

"Okay, so, let's move onto questions that you _can_ answer, like, what brings you to New York all by yourself?" Spencer asked.

"My mom is away restoring painting in a shack somewhere on the other side of the country. I was supposed to work at an art store this summer but she ended up sending me to stay with my dad while he did some work out in Italy. My mom's work ran long so when my dad sent me home I got sent right here to the Hopewell," Clio said.

"You were in Italy? No wonder you're so tan," Spencer said. "New York probably seems pretty lame in comparison then."

"I was actually out on the ocean. I didn't see too much of Italy. . ." Clio said. She wanted to finish her sentence "except for after our yacht got commandeered and I ended telling the Italian police about it", but she felt that was a story better left for later, if it was one she was going to tell at all.

"What were you doing out on the ocean?" Spencer asked pulling the cart over to the window to install the air conditioner.

"Nothing special. Just doing some dives out in the ocean. Looking at old boats and junk," she replied. Clio still wasn't clear on how much she was supposed to reveal (or how much she wanted to reveal) about her exploration of the Mediterranean so she stuck with the vague details.

"Dive! The board game! That's where I know you from! You were on the cover! I used to play that with Scarlett all the time," Spencer laughed, elated by his sudden epiphany.

"Oh, yeah, that," Clio said. Her opinion of her father had improved over the summer, but her attitude towards being on the cover of that game had not. "My dad and I invented that game when I was a kid."

"You do look a lot older," he said moving onto the air conditioner. "Anyway, if I remember reading your reservation correctly there's supposed to be two of you here isn't there?"

"Not for a while. My friend Elsa is coming to stay here with me for a bit and then she's going back home," Clio explained. "She was with me on the boat in Italy. She's mostly English."

"She's mostly English?" Spencer asked.

"Well, her mom is English and she lives and goes to school in England, but her dad is Swedish and she prays in Swedish when she's scared. So, she's mostly English but also, partly Swedish," Clio explained.

"This friend of yours, Elsa, seems very interesting," Spencer said plugging the air conditioner into the wall and then proceeding to sit it inside of the window.

"She is very interesting actually," she replied with a smile.

Then there was a snap that startled Clio. She looked over to the window to see that the air conditioner had vanished from the window, leaving on the cord stuck in the outlet below to give any evidence that it had been there in the first place. Outside there was a crash and a scream.

"Oops," Spencer said.

"What happened?" Clio asked.

"I almost killed my sister I think. . ." he said, unusually calm considering the circumstances. ". . . Yeah, that's Scarlett alright. . . Oh, she looks _mad_. . ."

"Is she okay?" Clio asked.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine," he said dismissively.

"You almost killed your sister just now," she pointed out.

"_Almost_ killed my sister, but didn't," Spencer said brightly. Clio knew she shouldn't, but she laughed.

"I'm gonna go get another AC unit for you and I'll be back shortly."

Spencer walked out of the room, leaving Clio, amused and slightly confused. Spencer was an unusual sort of person. He rode a unicycle, was an actor, and he laughed after nearly killing his sister by way of crushing her with an air conditioner.

Just as Clio was allowing herself to become fully distracted by the enigma that was Spencer, her phone rang. She rolled over her bed to the night stand and examined the screen.

_Call From: Elsa_

Clio quickly answered. "Elsa!"

"Clio! Goodness, I miss you," she said. "How's New York? Is it wonderful? I bet it is."

"It's. . . Interesting for lack of a better word," Clio replied. "I haven't been here very long so I haven't really been able to pass judgment on it just yet."

"How's the hotel?" Elsa inquired.

"Even more interesting. They're performing 'Hamlet' right here in their own dining room. I saw it. It was amazing," Clio went on. "The boy who plays Guildenstern works here and is apparently in charge of personally seeing to it that my stay is comfortable."

"Oh! What's he like?" Elsa asked.

"He's. . . Interesting, just like everything else around here," Clio replied.

"Is he cute?" Elsa asked with a giggle.

"I guess so," she replied.

". . . Have you heard from Aidan at all since you left?" Elsa asked, suddenly changing the subject. A knot formed in Clio's stomach and she let out a sigh. "I'll take that as a no."

"He hasn't called, e-mailed, texted or anything," she said.

Elsa scoffed. "What an idiot. I cannot believe he wouldn't call you! After everything you went through together! Why is he being stupid?"

"Don't worry about it, Elsa," Clio said, trying to calm her angry friend. She was angry enough at Aidan for the both of them.

There came a knock on the door to her suite.

"Well, I've got to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Clio said.

"I'm going to call Aidan and tell him how stupid he's being," Elsa said.

"Elsa, no!" Clio pleaded, but Elsa was already gone. Clio sighed. "Come in."

The door opened and Scarlett walked inside, looking rather frazzled.

"You didn't happen to drop an air conditioner out of your window and nearly _kill me_ did you?" Scarlett asked.

"Um. . . Of course not," Clio said. "Alternatively, you may want to ask your brother."

As if on cue, Spencer walked into the suite, a new AC unit in hand.

"Spencer!" Scarlett shouted.

"Oh, calm down," he said. "It's not like I intended to almost kill you."

"There's no telling with you, Spence," Scarlett replied. "Now, unless you intend actually kill someone this time, will let me help you with that?"

"Sure, sure," Spencer said, "But there's no way it would happen two times in a row. You're paranoid."

"And rightly so," Clio put in.

"Thank you," Scarlett said, happy to have Clio come to her defense. The AC unit was placed in the window, without incident this time.

"What would I do without you, Scarlett?" Spencer asked.

"Kill hundreds of innocent bystanders," she replied.

"Oh, stop exaggerating," Spencer said.

"I'm not," Scarlett replied. She turned to Clio. "Goodnight, Clio."

"Thanks, Scarlett," Clio said.

Scarlett skipped out of the room, leaving Clio alone with Spencer.

"You sound like a dangerous man, Spencer," Clio said.

"Occasionally," he said with a nod. "Anyway, I don't have a performance tomorrow, so if you would like, I could give you a personal tour around the city."

"Really?" Clio asked.

"Sure, unless you'd rather sit in here all day," Spencer said.

Clio giggled. "I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you, Spencer."

"Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow at eight in the lobby," he said.

Clio gave him a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan."


	3. Scene 3

_[A/N: Clio and Marissa, put the sporks down—here's your third chapter.]_

Clio was up at eight the next morning just as she'd told Spencer she would be.

She was tired and in desperate need of coffee, but her desire to see New York outweighed all the things were ailing her at the moment.

She had been in the lobby a few minutes before Scarlett walked in from the front, Spencer trailing behind her carrying a beat up and battered bike.

"What happened to your bike?" Clio asked.

"Life," Spencer replied. "Some people look at this baby and think it's a piece of junk, but me, I think she has character."

"Not to mention, it deters people from stealing it," Scarlett pointed out. "Nobody wants a crap bike. . . Well, expect for Spencer apparently."

"This is also true," Spencer said," Anyway, you'll be happy to know this is not our primary mode of transportation. We'll mostly be doing walking but, I think we should make good use of all the cabs New York has."

"Awesome," Clio replied.

"Well you look like you're ready for adventure," he said.

Clio nodded. "Yep, I'm always ready for adventure."

"I like that attitude," Spencer said coming up next to Clio. He offered her his arm. Clio gladly took it. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Clio said.

The pair walked out of the Hopewell and began their journey.

"So, that tattoo. Is it real?" Spencer asked, motioning to the tattoo on Clio's arm.

"Oh, that. Yeah," she said. "I got it a few years ago when I was in Japan with my dad. My mom was kind of, er, irritated for lack of a better word."

"Did you come up with the design or. . ."

"Oh, no. I had a scar there you see, and there was this manga artist, a really awesome and amazing one, and he covered it and then I got it filled in with an actual tattoo," Clio said. "Do you have any tattoos?"

"And ruin this perfect body? No," Spencer replied.

Clio laughed.

"So, what do you do in your free time?" Spencer asked.

"Draw. . . Not much else," she chuckled.

"What kinda stuff do you draw?" Spencer asked.

"Everything. Buildings, oceans, animals. . . People," Clio said.

"Are you any good?" Spencer asked.

Clio shrugged. "It's a matter of taste, I suppose."

"You'll have to show me some of your stuff while you're here," Spencer said.

"Sure," Clio said. "Do you do anything besides acting?"

Spencer thought for a moment and shook his head. "Nope. I don't want to do anything else really."

"Well, for what it's worth, you seem really good at what you do," Clio said.

888

"Do you know how they make funnel cake?" Spencer asked Clio. The pair were sitting in Grand Central Station enjoying a plate of pancakes and coffee.

"Uh, no," Clio said.

"They're pancakes basically. You take pancake batter and squeeze it through a tube into a deep fryer and, voila, funnel cake," Spencer said.

"That's so random that you know that," she replied.

"Not really," Spencer replied with a shrug. "I almost went to culinary school."

"But you make a better actor than you do chef?" Clio asked.

"Oh, don't be fooled Miss Clio, my cooking skills are pretty top notch. I mean I know my way around a kitchen just like I know my way around a unicycle," he said.

"You're an endearing character Spencer Martin," Clio admitted. "But if you're so handy in the kitchen why am I sitting here eating pancakes someone else made me when you, the undercover Iron Chef, sound so proficient at making them yourself?"

"Are you questioning my ability to make pancakes? Because I can make pancakes. I can make pancakes all day long," Spencer said.

Clio laughed and got to her feet, grabbing her coffee cup as she did.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You promised to show me New York and while the station is great and everything, I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if I didn't see the Museum of Modern Art while I was here," Clio said. She took Spencer's hand and pulled him up from the table. "It's just up the street isn't it? We can get there by walking, unless you'd prefer to find someone who rents out unicycles if you'd prefer to travel that way."

"You make a poor comedian, Clio Ford," Spencer said, smiling despite himself.

"I do not. I'm hilarious and you know it," she said pulling him along. "Now let's go."

888

"You know, I'm pretty handy in the kitchen myself," Clio said.

After trolling through the Museum of Modern Art all morning, the pair had settled in Central Park for a pseudo-picnic of bagels.

"Really?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah. When I was on my dad's boat this summer I was the chef," she said proudly. "I cooked dinner every night. Everyone always loved it. . . Unless our food started to go bad in which case I had to wing it. Those weren't my best nights."

"What exactly did you do on this boat?" Spencer asked.

"We looked for buried treasure and out ran pirates. . . And in one instance had to try to set fire to our boat in order to evade capture by pirates," she said.

"That's a joke right?" Spencer asked.

"I wish it was," Clio chuckled. "At the end of our trip our boat kind of got hijacked by some guys and I ended up floating out in the middle of the ocean with. . . Aidan."

Aidan. How had Clio not thought about him all day? They were together after all, at least that's what she'd been led to assume. She remembered the horrible ordeal with the jellyfish and him being there to help her. She remembered sharing a kiss with him as they awaited rescue in the middle of the ocean. And it wasn't just any kiss. It wasn't as if she had kisses to fritter away. It was her first kiss.

Now he didn't even have the decency to acknowledge her existence.

"Who's Aidan?" Spencer asked. "He your boyfriend?"

"Don't know. Boyfriends actually make a habit of calling their girlfriend's right?" she asked.

"To my knowledge, yes," Spencer replied.

"Right, and here I was just beginning to think I was living in some alternate universe where they didn't," Clio said. "Pretty sure he blew me off. I haven't heard from him since I got state side."

Spencer shook his head. "What a jerk."

"It doesn't matter anymore. He doesn't matter anymore," Clio said reassuringly. She looked up at Spencer and smiled.

"So. . . You draw you said," Spencer brought up, recognizing that Clio wanted to change the subject away from Aidan.

"Yes, I can," she said.

Spencer reached into his bag and pulled out a pencil and then took a napkin and handed it to Clio. "Draw something."

"Draw what?" she asked.

"Anything that tickles your fancy," he said.

"Okay," she said. She pointed across the park to a random tree. "That."

He was quiet for the few moments it took Clio to draw the tree. He watched her. She didn't really have an expression on her face except that she was concentrating deeply. Every now and again her face would randomly curve into a smile but it was there for less than a heartbeat.

Finally, she took a deep breath and smiled.

"There, your very own piece of still life from Clio Ford," she said handing him back the napkin.

"Wow, Clio," Spencer said taken aback. The tree was perfect. With a little color he suspected it might pass for the real thing. "This is great. You're really good. I really need to see some other stuff now."

"As long as you cook for me at some point during my stay here," she said.

Spencer reached out and shook Clio's hand. "We have a deal."


	4. Scene 4

_[A/N: It took less than two months for me to post this! I'm officially on top of my game.]_

Clio and Spencer walked into the Hopewell that evening laughing and giddy.

This time, there was another girl standing at the front desk staring at the computer. She looked up to Clio and Spencer when she heard them enter.

"Hey, Spencer," the girl said. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, her?" Spencer asked motioning to Clio.

"I don't see anyone else with you," she said.

"This is my buddy Clio," Spencer said.

"Oh, this is the Clio who's staying in your room," she said.

"Clio this is my sister, Lola," Spencer said.

"He wasn't being weird was he?" Lola asked as Spencer walked Clio to the elevator.

"Actually, he was very weird," Clio said as they stepped inside. "But it's okay. I like weird."

Lola smiled and then went back to whatever she was doing on the computer.

Clio and Spencer rode the elevator in silence for a while. As soon as they stepped off onto her floor Spencer chuckled.

"So, you like weird?" Spencer asked.

Clio smiled. "Yeah. I mean, not all kinds of weird. Your kind of weird is good. I mean, I never thought I would meet someone who could teach me how to fall down purposely and make it funny."

"Well it was funny even when you did it wrong," Spencer said.

"Would it have still been funny even if I'd hurt myself?" Clio asked.

Spencer shrugged. "Honestly, it probably would've been funnier that way."

Clio chuckled. "I appreciate your honesty." She pushed her bedroom door open and lingered in the doorway for a moment.

"You know, Clio, I had a lot of fun today," Spencer said.

"Me too," Clio replied much quicker than she had meant to.

"We should do this again sometime," Spencer said. "But you know, instead of making you walk over the place we could take a cab, go somewhere nice for dinner. Maybe catch a movie later. Or, more than likely, we'd go some place nice for breakfast since I'm going to be up to my nose in Hamlet for a while."

Clio leaned against her doorframe and eyed Spencer with a false sense of suspicion.

"Are you asking me out on a date, Spencer Martin?" she asked.

"That would certainly seem to be the case, Clio Ford," Spencer replied. 

Clio paused for a moment before she answered and her mind went to one place and one place only: Aidan. He was (allegedly) her boyfriend, at least that's what he had said. Under normal relationship circumstances he would probably call, text, e-mail—find some way to contact her. It would be different if he were still floating out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea but she knew he was state side and that being the case there was no excuse she could think of.

What did Aidan matter anyway? She was sure many girls regretted kissing the first boy they'd ever kissed. Clio just had to make sure the next guy she was going to lock lips with wasn't going to bail on her the way Aidan had, and why shouldn't that guy be Spencer?

He made her laugh, almost nonstop through the whole day. He liked her artwork, even if the only piece he'd seen was a tree she'd drawn on a napkin in the park. From the very first moment they'd met he'd been so cordial and nice and, let's face it, real gentlemen were hard to come by these days. And it did help that Spencer cute and an actor with a real future ahead of him.

Clio began to wonder why she was even still thinking this over.

"I would love to go out on a date with you, Spencer," Clio said. Spencer smiled and a the faintest blush tinted his cheeks. "When should I expect this date to take place?"

". . . When you least expect it," Spencer replied.

Clio giggled and made a mental to note to add the fact that he was full of surprises to the list of things she liked about him.

Spencer reached out and took Clio's hand and kissed it.

"Goodnight, Clio," he said.

"Goodnight, Spencer," she replied, to contain all of her excitement inside of her chest even though it felt like she might explode.

Spencer released her and then stalked off toward the elevator, giving Clio one last wave before he disappeared inside of it.

Clio stepped into her room and closed the door. She giggled excitedly in spite of herself. She was very excited about her perspective date with Spencer.

Just as she was fantasizing over what exactly she might do on her date with Spencer, her phone started buzzing in her pocket.

She quickly fished it out and answered it.

"Hello?"

"So, what's the weather in New York like?" Elsa asked.

"Oh, you know, hot, muggy, humid. Completely uncomfortable," Clio joked.

"Don't tease me. I have to know what I need to bring," Elsa said.

"Are you coming soon then?" Clio asked.

"Not soon enough I'm afraid. Hopefully you can do without me for a few more days," Elsa said dramatically.

"I'll try but I think I may waste away before then," Clio said. "I feel myself getting faint with anticipation already. Oh, woe is me."

Elsa laughed. "So have your heard from your boyfriend yet?"

Clio scoffed. "I have no boyfriend."

"Ah, I see how it is then," Elsa said. She let out a long sigh. "What a shame. Are you doing alright?"

"Actually, Elsa, I am fantastic. Better than fantastic," Clio said flopping down onto her bed.

"Really? Does this have anything to do with Guildenstern?" Elsa asked, intrigued.

"His name is Spencer," Clio laughed.

"Ah, so what about this Spencer has made you feel so fantastic?" Elsa asked.

"Well, he took me out and showed me around New York all day," she said. "It was great! We had breakfast at Grand Central Station and then we went to, like, every museum and Central Park and Time Square and we ate bagels and-."

"Oh, my God, Clio, slow down," Elsa said. "It sounds like the service at the hotel is amazing, or at least your Spencer is."

"He is pretty amazing—if you don't include that time he almost killed his sister. That was amazing, but in a terrifying sort of way," Clio said.

"Wait, what do you mean he almost killed his sister?" Elsa asked.

"Nothing, ignore that I said that," Clio said.

"Uh. . . Okay," Elsa said. "So tell me about him."

"He's great. He opens doors and pulls out chairs. He rides a unicycle," Clio said.

"Do you have a thing for guys who ride unicycles?" Elsa giggled.

"No, it's just. . . He's funny. Everything he says is either really sweet or really funny," she said. "And after we hung out today he. . . He asked me out on a legit date."

"And I'll just bet you said yes didn't you?" Elsa asked.

"Of course I did," Clio said. "I promise you'll like him."

"Are you sure?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, Elsa. I promise," she said.

"Okay, we'll just have to see when I get there won't I?" she asked.

"And when will that be again?" Clio asked.

"Not soon enough," Elsa sighed. "Well, it's nearly two in the morning here so I'm going to try to get some sleep now."

"Okay. Goodnight, Elsa," Clio said.

"Goodnight, Clio."

Clio hung up the phone and laid back on her bed. It wasn't super late, but Clio was pretty wiped out from her day. But then her phone rang again. She answered it again.

"Hello?" Clio asked.

"Hey, Clio."

Clio immediately sat up in her bed.

"Aidan?" Clio asked.

"Well who else did you think it was?" Aidan asked.

"I don't know, perhaps someone who knows how call in a timely manner," Clio said.

"Oh, come on. You aren't angry are you?" Aidan asked.

"Of course I'm angry and I have every right to be angry. No call, no e-mail, no text, not even a freaking letter. And I called you and I'm sure Elsa called you but I never heard from you," Clio said.

"I've just been busy," he said.

Clio scoffed. "Busy doing what?"

"Just stuff," he said.

"Oh, yeah, stuff. That sounds totally believable," she said. "You know, I don't think I asked too much of you. It's not like I asked you to hire a sky writer to leave me message written in the sky. I just wanted to hear from you. For you to perhaps create the illusion that you cared about me. But I got nothing from you."

"Well I can't do anything about that, Clio. I'm sorry," he said.

"Yeah and I'm sorry too," she said.

"What's with the third degree?" he asked.

"Why didn't you try to reach me and why are you acting like it's okay that you didn't?" Clio asked.

"I don't know. All I can say is sorry," he said.

Clio rolled her eyes. "You know what, Aidan, don't call me again. That seems to be something you're quite skilled at."

Aidan groaned. "I think you're overreacting."

"Whatever, Aidan. I don't wanna be that girl who sits around and plays stupid for some guy that isn't going to call. I have a life to live," Clio said.

"Clio, I'm sorry. I forgot," he said.

"Well, I'm about to forget about you," she said. "Goodbye, Aidan."

Clio hung up, buried her face into a pillow, and screamed.

Why would he call now? Right when things were starting to actually look up for her, when she'd met a guy who acts and cooks and makes her laugh? 

Clio picked up her phone one last time and called Elsa back.

"Clio, I told you I was going to bed," Elsa whined, clearly having already been asleep.

"I know," Clio said. "It's just. . . Aidan called."


End file.
